Wall paneling supporting means



Feb. 20, 1940. F. M. SMALL WALL PANELING SUPPORTING MEANS 2 SheetsSheet 1 Filed Oct. 17, 1 936 Filed Oct. 17, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ing units in position to cover UNITED smrss WALL PANELING sorron'rme MEANS Frederick M. Small, York, Pa., assignor to Martin- Parry Corporation, York, Pa a corporation of Delaware Application October 17, 1936, Serial No. 106,212

v 7 Claims.

The primary object of this invention is to provide novel means for supporting wall panelpreviously formed wall structures. i

A further important object of the invention is to provide a novel form of furring strip adapted for use in supporting and securing wall paneling units.

A still further object of the invention is to pro- Vide novel devices for securing paneling units to furring strips.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description:

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

Figure l is a front elevational view of one form of device employed for supporting and maintaining in position wall paneling units;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional View of the structure shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 rosette key or staple employed in the device disclosed in Figures 1 and 2 for securing paneling units to a wall furring strip; Figure 4 is a front elevational view of a modifled form of mechanism for fastening wall pane-ling units in place; 7

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view of the structure disclosed in Figure 1; l

Figure 6 is a front elevational view of a further modified form of panel securing mechanism;

structure disclosed in Figure 6;

further modified form of panel securing means;

Figure 9 is a transverse sectional view of the structure disclosed in Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a front elevational view of another modified form of panel securing means; and

Figure 1.1 is a transverse sectional view of the structure discloseclin Figure 10.

Referring particularly to Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, the reference character l5 designates in its entirety a furring strip which includes a front Wall portion I 6 which is either preformed with, "or at the time of installation provided with, a series of. longitudinally extending slots H. The slots 11 are intended to receive a panel securing rosette key or staple which will be referred to at a later point. a l Each longitudinal edge of the front wall it is a detailed sectional view of a Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view of the is provided with a hollow, preferably triangularly Shaped, marginal flange it. These flanges are arranged relative to the front wall ltisothat one fiat side IS of each of the same is arranged in parallelism with the front wall iii. These fiat faces i9 act as extended bearing surfaces for the furring strip. The flanges l8 function to reinforce or strengthen the furring strip so that the latter may be formed from relatively thin gauge sheet material. It has been determined that No. 26 gauge sheet steel may he satisfactorily used for forming the furring strip when reinforced by the flanges l8.

Positioned inwardly of the front wall It is a rear wall 25 which is suitably fastened at its longitudinal edges to the inner surfaces of the flanges til. This inner wall Zll is not provided slots registering with the slots ll formed in the front wall I6.

For the purpose of tying together, supporting, and clamping to the furring strip the adjacent edges of two wall paneling units it i, a rosette key or staple of the character disclosed in detail in Figure 3 is provided for each slot i7. Each rosette includes a relatively large head portion 22 which is ornamented in any desired manner on its front face. Secured to the rear face of the head if! in any suitable manner are the points or the prong 23. These points or prongs have laterally projecting wings 24 at their outer ends, which may be soldered, welded, or the like, to the head By inserting the points or prongs 3 between the adjacent edges of the panel units 22 and into a slot El and then driving the key or staple inwardly, the inner or rear wall 20 will automatically function to spread the points or prongs 258 for clinching the latter, as clearly illustrated in Figure 2.

It will be appreciated that the use of the type of key or staple illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, will permit the adjacent edges of panel units to be securely and firmly tied to thefurring strip It. Should any panel unit of a particular paneling job become damaged, it is possible to remove a single panel unit, without disturbing the remaining units, by merely cutting off the a heads 22 of the said keys or staples by means of noted that a furring strip of substantially the same construction as that disclosed in Figures 1 and 2. is employed. The furring strip 25 of Figures 4 and 5 differs from the previously described furring strip insofar as the front wall 26 is concerned. This wall is formed with a longitudinally extending channel 2'! which isof dovetail formation in cross-section. The inner or rear wall 20 of the previously described furring strip is omitted from the furring strip 25. Otherwise the two furring strips are identical, and the same reference characters will be applied to the remaining, similarly formed portions of the strip.

For the purpose of securing panel units 2| to furring strip 25, a key 28 of substantially I-shape is provided. This key is formed with a base 29 which is of substantially dovetail shape in crosssection and adapted to be slidably received within the dovetail shaped channel 21 formed in the front wall of the furring strip. The key 28 is further provided with a stem or middle portion 30 which, when in use, is arranged between the adjacent edges of the panel units 2|. A flanged head is provided by the key which includes the oppositely extending wings 3!. The manner of using this form of wall paneling securing means is believed to be obvious from an inspection of Figures 4 and 5.

The modified form of paneling unit securing means disclosed in Figures 6 and '7 includes the use of a furring strip, designated in its entirety by the reference character 32, which differs from the furring strip 25 disclosed in Figures 4 and 5 only by the form of channel 33 which is formed in the front wall 34 of the strip. This channel 33 is provided with parallel side. walls 35 so that the channel does not take the dovetail shape-of the channel 21. The remaining elements of the furring strip will be identified by the reference characters employed for describing the similarly formed portions of the two previously described furring strips.

1 A modified form of panel securing key is illustrated in Figures 6 and '7. This key, designated inits entirety by the reference character 36, is provided with a fiat plate-like base portion 31 having an aperture 38 formed therein through which a self-threading screw, or the like, may be driven to secure the keyto the furring strip. This base plate 31 has parallel side walls 38 connected thereto. Laterally projecting, relatively long wings 39 are formed integrally with the side walls 38. Figure '7 very clearly illustrates the manner in which the wings 39 function to tie wall paneling units 25 to the furring strip 32.

Referring particularly to Figures 8 and 9, it

will be noted that the furring strip 40 differs from r the previously described structures in that the front wall 42 has integrally formed therewith the panel unit securing key. This integral key structure includes the middle or stem portion 43 and the oppositely extending wing-like flanges 44. The panel units 2| are adapted to be arranged with their adjacent edges fitted between the winglike flanges 44 and the front wall 42 of the furring strip. If desired, a snap-on form of cover strip 45 may be provided. This cover strip, if provided with an enamel coating or if plated or ornamented in any other manner, will produce a very pleasing appearance for the joint or seam betweenthe panel units 2!. 9

The form of the invention disclosed in Figures 10 and 11 includes a furring strip 46 which is of very similar construction to the furring strip 4i! disclosed in Figures 8 and 9, the only difference being that the wing-like flanges 41 are spaced from the front wall 43 of the furring strip an insufficient distance to permit the flanges 41 to overlie the outer faces of the wall paneling units 49. These paneling units, therefore, are provided with edge slots 50 which receive the flanges 41. In this construction, the securing means for the wall paneling units 49 are entirely covered or concealed by the paneling units.

It is to be understood that the forms of this "invention herewith shown and described are to be takenas preferred examples of the same and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the type described, a sheet metal furring strip comprising a front wall and a hollow reinforcing flange formed on each longitudinal edge of said front wall, said flanges acting to hold the front wall spaced from the surface against which the strip is to be applied, separable panel engaging means, and means carried by said front wall to position said panel engaging means thereon whereby to hold adjacent edges of panel units on said strip.

2. In a device of the type described, a sheet metal furring strip comprising a front wall and a hollow reinforcing flange formed on each longitudinal edge of said front wall, each flange having a flat base portion to provide a relatively wide bearing surface, separable panel engaging means, and means carried by said front wall to position said panel engaging means thereon whereby to hold adjacent edges of panel units on said strip.

3. In a device of the type described, a sheet metal furring strip comprising a front wall and a hollow reinforcing flange formed on each longitudinal edge of said wall, each of said flanges being of triangular shape in cross-section with" one side of the triangle arranged in parallelism with said front wall to provide a flat bearing surface, separable panel engaging means, and means carried by said front wall to position said panel engaging means thereon whereby to hold adjacent edges of panel units on said strip.

4. In a device of the type described, a sheet metal furring strip comprising a front wall and a hollow reinforcing flange formed on each longitudinal edge of said front wall, said flanges acting to hold the front wall spaced from the surface against which the strip is to be applied, a rear wall extending between said reinforcing flanges inparallelism with the front wall, said staple having an enlarged panel clamping head inserted in said slot with its points automatically spread and clinched by said rear wall.

5. A sheet metal furring strip comprising a body portion arranged to cooperate with means whereby to support panel edges on said strip and the longitudinal marginal edges of said body portion having successive portions thereof bent respectively rearwardly, laterally and forwardly to provide atubular reinforcing flange acting to hold the body portion spaced from the surface against which the strip is to be applied.

6. In a device of the type described, a sheet metal furring strip comprising a front panel supporting wall having a channel formed therein, the said channel extending rearvvardly and. longitudinally of said front wall, and a panel retaining key removably held in said channel wherefront wall having a slot formed therein, and a a 2,190,806 a i i n by to clamp panel edgesbetween said key and 'wardly andlongitndinall y of said front wall and said wall.

'1. In a device of the type described, a sheet metal furring strip comprising a frontpanel supporting wall having a dovetail-shaped channel f ormed therein, the said channel extending reara panel retaining key having a dovetail-shaped base removably positioned in said channel whereby to clamp panelledges between said key and said wall. v

e FREDERICK M. SMALL. 

